-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- What 's with this wacky weather ?

It 's so cold in Florida that farmers joke the oranges are squeezing themselves to stay warm .

But Alaska is so warm that a ski resort 's been forced to close .

Add to this curious mix , giant waves in Hawaii , a historic drought in California , and bears coming out of hibernation in Nevada , and you ca n't help but wonder : What is going on with the weather ?

To be sure , the United States is a giant place -- 3,000 miles wide from coast to coast . But even taking that into account , what you have here has to be at least a tad bit out of the norm .

Right ?

`` It 's not actually that unusual , '' says Roger Edwards , a meteorologist with the Storm Prediction Center at the National Weather Service .

Usually a few times each winter , the temperatures flip-flop where Tallahassee is colder than Anchorage .

`` But , '' he says , `` this one is more persistent than we normally see . ''

Northeast : Super bowled

This whole weather system business is a balancing act .

`` When there 's extremely cold air in one area , some other part is going to be warm , '' says Edwards .

Tell that to the folks in the Northeast who are still digging out from more than a foot of snow in some places and shivering with temperatures in the single digits -- a full 15 to 25 degrees below normal .

On Tuesday , 10 inches of snow fell on MetLife Stadium , which hosts the Super Bowl in 10 days .

It gave National Football League officials a chance to test their snow removal plan , affiliate NY1 reported . NFL officials say it will take 1,600 workers about 18 hours to clear the stadium and parking lots .

`` The stadium operations staff along with NFL productions staff is running this as a dress rehearsal and we have people watching , and evaluating and grading , '' said NFL Executive Vice President Eric Grubman .

Dropping the -LRB- snow -RRB- ball on game day would be bad PR for the league . About 111 million Americans watched last year 's game .

The extended forecast is n't providing much to be optimistic about though .

`` The way the pattern is set up right now , there will be a series of cold air shots , '' Edwards said . `` The basic pattern is going to stay this way for another week or so . ''

Alaska : Hit the ski -LRB- d -RRB- s

Contrast that with Anchorage , Alaska , where Thursday 's forecast high will be around 45 degrees . A typical high would be in the low 20s .

The seven-day forecast holds more of the same .

Temperatures like that are bad news for the Alyeska Ski Resort which closed for the third time this winter . Rain fell Wednesday on an empty parking lot .

`` Sometimes you get epic storms . If this was 10 degrees cooler , it would be one of those , '' Eric Helmbrecht , the owner of Powder Hound Ski Shop , told CNN affiliate KTUU , trying to sound hopeful `` We will get snow and it will be fine . ''

Hawaii : Making waves

Waves up to 50 feet high have been pounding the North Shore of Oahu -- the largest Hawaii 's seen since 2004 .

`` It 's a spectacle . It 's incredible , '' resident Daniela Power said . `` It 's so big and massive and powerful and it 's really a special thing to watch for sure . ''

What 's causing it ?

A large storm with hurricane-force winds that 's sending a giant swell toward the island . The surf peaked overnight , the weather service said .

Great news for surfers , right ? Not quite .

At first glance , the tall waves would appear to offer a golden opportunity for participants in a big wave surf contest that was scheduled to take place Wednesday on Oahu .

But the organizers have postponed the event . They say that although the waves are expected to be pleasingly large , the wind conditions are no good .

California : No rain on the ranches

Winter is California 's wet season . It 's the dead of winter now , but there no cloud in sight and nary a raindrop in the forecast .

California 's facing perhaps its worst drought since record-keeping began a century ago , California Gov. Jerry Brown proclaimed this month .

It 's pushed farmers and ranchers to their financial limits . There 's nothing on the ground for animals to eat .

`` I borrowed money -- I hate to even say that -- but I recently borrowed money to buy hay , '' says rancher Harold Kelly .

`` Normally , it 'd be raining and we 'd have grass growing , '' he says . `` The grass is basically all gone . ''

Nevada : Barely sleeping

An unusual number of black bears are up and about in western Nevada . The winter there has been so abnormally warm and dry winter that the bears are done with their hibernation and headed out for food .

The National Weather Service 's forecast for Incline Village , Nevada , for instance , calls for high temperatures heading to or well past 50 degrees for the next week at least , with nary of snow flurry in sight .

It 's not just Nevada : Nearby Northern California is also seeing an abnormal number of black bears , with CNN affiliate KXTV showing images taken from Yosemite National Park and Lake Tahoe 's Heavenly Ski Resort .

Healy said `` a disastrous winter '' -- adding `` we need the snow '' -- and relatively mild temperatures have thrown off some black bears .

`` We documented this and , in the past 15 years , it occurs sporadically , '' the spokesman said .

`` A lot of it is dictated by the weather conditions . ''

And , as we know , this year it 's been all kinds of weird .

CNN 's Steve Almasy , Greg Botelho , Carma Hassan , Sonya Hamasaki , Michael Martinez and Jethro Mullen contributed to this report .

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An Alaskan ski resort gets rain instead of snow

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Large parts of the U.S. are 15 to 25 degrees below normal

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The National Weather Service says this is n't `` that unusual ''

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Frost and freeze advisories stretch to South Florida